1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an imaging device configured to take an image in a predetermined imaging area with a camera unit and displaying the camera-taken image on a display unit.
2. Related Art
In general application of imaging devices, an image in a predetermined imaging area, for example, an imaging object placed on a table, is taken with an internal camera of a camera unit and is displayed on a display unit. This application enables the user of the imaging device to give a presentation, while conveniently checking the conditions of the camera-taken image. One proposed technique for the imaging device uses command icons included in a menu image displayed on the display unit for setting various working conditions of the imaging device, for example, brightness adjustment, white balance adjustment, and image edge adjustment for image taking with the camera unit (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-120374).
The imaging device of this proposed structure adopts software setting keys to display command icons representing various commands for device settings on the display unit and select a desired command icon by the user's operation of a command pointer, for example, an infrared light pen, on the display unit.
When the user touches the menu image on the display unit with the command pointer, such as the light pen, this prior art imaging device detects the position of the touch by taking the image of the display unit with the camera unit and activates a command specified by the detected touch position. The same camera unit is used for taking the image of each imaging object for the presentation and for taking the image of the display unit to detect the touch position. On every occasion of the device settings, the user is thus required to change the attitude of the camera unit from the position for taking the image of the imaging object to the position for taking the image of the display unit. This is rather time-consuming and troublesome. The proposed technique combines the menu image with the camera-taken image to generate a composite image and displays the composite image on the display unit. Since a change of the attitude of the camera unit is required on every occasion of the device settings, the camera-taken image as a subject of composition with the menu image is naturally an image taken with the camera unit prior to its attitude change. The imaging object shown to the audience is generally replaced in the course of a presentation. The camera-taken image combined with the menu image may thus be different from the image actually taken with the camera unit at the moment. Such a difference causes the user to feel odd and uncomfortable and lowers the usability of the imaging device. The proposed technique displays the composite image even on a projector, which is shown to the audience of the presentation. The audience is then notified of the device settings by the user's selection of corresponding command icons. This undesirably damages the effect of the presentation.
In order to solve the problem of the prior art, there would be a demand for adopting software operation keys for device settings to improve the usability, while preventing a damage of the effect of presentation given to the audience.